Hellooooo everybody! Silver here, hope you enjoy what's to come!

-=]I[=-

Alduin surveyed the figure in front of him, head down, both knees in the snow. A blustering gale whipped her blood-red hair around her like a mane, shrouding her face.

She hadn't spoken since her offer, an offer than could disrupt the flow of time itself. In her outstretched arms was an Elder Scroll, a peace offering to the World-Eater.

Alduin merely regarded her in silence. It was Odahviing who first spoke, in her tongue. Even then, he uttered only a single word. "Why?"

She looked up, first at the brightly-colored dragon that addressed her, then at the gleaming red eyes of Alduin himself, her emerald eyes meeting his.

When she spoke, her voice was hoarse. It wasn't much of an explanation, either. "I have nothing else left to lose."

Alduin wasn't surprised easily, yet this… this was the one thing he never would have expected.

"Bring me the Kel." His voice boomed across the mountaintops. The Dovahkiin approached him and laid the Scroll on the ground before him.

"I will not lie, Dovahkiin. Your offer surprised me."

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I've been told I'm quite good at surprises."

"And how do I know that you are not here to present me with this offer, then betray me?"

"Lord Alduin, if I were here to kill you, I wouldn't have brought the Scroll."

Odahviing spoke again. "It is possible that you wish to gain our trust, then attack Alduin."

"I can see why you would think that, given my history with the Dark Brotherhood. But I can assure you, I am not here to betray you."

Odahviing glared at her while Alduin looked on in amusement. Odahviing drew closer to her, fangs bared. "Then prove it, Dovahkiin. Prove your loyalty to Lord Alduin."

"I should not need to prove myself to you, but very well. What would you have me do?"

"You should cast yourself down the mountain. The Scrolls have foretold your killing Master Alduin. Who is to say you will not fulfill your destiny?"

"Odahviing, enough." Alduin glared at his second-in-command, who shrank back suddenly.

"My apologies, Lord Alduin. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Do not disrespect me again, Odahviing. There will be consequence." He turned back to the Dovahkiin. "However, Odahviing is correct. I cannot trust you yet, Dovahkiin."

"I figured you wouldn't. That is why I have brought this." The Dragonborn gestured towards the scroll. "It contains the words to the shout Dragonrend. A shout that you, Lord Alduin, cannot perform." She stood up, brushing the snow off of her knees. "You require a mortal to do so."

"You speak the truth, Dragonborn, but we cannot trust you so easily."

The Dovahkiin rolled her eyes. "I acknowledge that, Lord. Yet you cannot trust any of the dov here. Each of them lusts for their own share of your power, and if you give the opportunity, they are sure to betray you. The only reason I am mistrusted is because I am not a true dovah. I am trapped within the body of a mortal. If I didn't know any better, I would say you were frightened of me, and of my role in the fate of this world."

"You dare have the gall to address Alduin in such a manner?" Odahviing, outraged, bared his teeth at the Dovahkiin. She seemed unfazed by him. Odahviing turned to Alduin and spoke to him in Dovahzul. "Alduin, I plead you, permit me to end this nuisance."

"Your spirit is admirable, Dovahkiin, although such rudeness will not be tolerated in the future." Alduin turned to Odahviing, speaking to him in the tongue of the Dovah. "Make preparations for her arrival. Make her presence known among the rest."

"But Lord Alduin…"

"Silence! She will not go unobserved. While I do not fully trust her either, it is better to keep our enemies closer to us."

Odahviing muttered something quietly, earning a glare from Alduin, but grudgingly spread his wings and took off, heading for the next peak, where the dov who were not hunting lay in rest.

Alduin turned back to the Dovahkiin, speaking in the mortal language. "Dovahkiin, I accept this offer. Welcome to my ranks."

-]I[-

"Dovahkiin. There you are." Azalea slowly lifted her eyes to meet those of Odahviing, who was staring at her with some degree of curiosity.

"Odahviing. What do you want?" Her tone, harsh and cold, cut through the winter air. "Last we spoke, you told me to hurl myself off the cliff."

"I wanted to ask you a question. Why? Why bring the Kel to Alduin?"

Azalea looked at him in surprise. She didn't want to relive that memory, but no matter what she did, how much she drank, how much skooma she took, nothing could free her from those memories.

"I guess it goes back a while, but I'm sure you are uninterested in my tragic backstory."

"I do not care. If you are to become one of us, I must know everything I can about you."

Azalea sighed. "Look, I don't want to talk about this."

"If you don't, I kill you where you stand."

"Fine. Get comfortable, my story isn't the shortest.

"I was born somewhere in Cheydinhal, Cyrodiil. My parents and brother were all Nords, who supported the Stormcloaks and despised the dominion. One day, my mom got sick. She… didn't get better. Long story short, it didn't turn my father into a great man. He used alcohol and skooma to cope. My brother and I needed some way to provide for ourselves. He became a sellsword, I resorted to thievery. I'll spare you the details, but the Thalmor killed my dad and took me prisoner after hearing that my brother had become a Stormcloak officer. I think they spared me to use me as leverage, but nobody came for me. I was imprisoned for eight years before escaping, but they caught up to me and sent me with the Stormcloaks to execution. That's when I first encountered Alduin."

Odahviing snorted. "He told me about that. You, the Dovahkiin, bound in chains and helpless. I had a good laugh about that one."

Azalea glared at him, but continued speaking. "As I was saying, I escaped execution and fled to Riften. Being there changed my life. I joined the Brotherhood, the Thieves Guild. I finally had a family."

"Among the dov, there is no concept of family. We live our lives separately, or serving a thuri, a master." Odahviing didn't seem sarcastic or cynical, he sounded somewhat… wistful. As if he was jealous of humanity.

"I lost the Brotherhood first. You see… we were betrayed. By one of our own. Sold out and killed, one by one. Those of us who didn't fall in combat were burnt when they set fire to everything. I can still smell the oil…

"But I digress. It was only me and the Night Mother, our Unholy Matron. I was forced to kill Astrid. She was like a sister to me, and she was gone. Just like that." She snapped her fingers. "This blade is the only thing I have to remember them by. I hate it, you know. But I can't… I won't let it go."

Odahviing inspected the blade. Azalea knew that it was forged well, stronger and lighter than ebony daggers. He seemed impressed by it.

"I also lost the Guild to betrayal. After being left for dead in a Nordic ruin, I returned to the Guild to find everyone… Vex, Delvin, even the poor merchants working there, dead. Their throats has been slit, and I recognized the bladework. The same man who gave me up this." Azalea pulled her cuirass up to her ribs, exposing a horrifying scar running across her stomach.

"Anyway, only three of us survived. Myself, Karliah, and… and Bryn. He wasn't there when it happened. He'd gone to search for us, you see. He was as betrayed as I was."

"So you tracked down your betrayer. Yet you returned alone. What happened?"

Azalea felt a lump forming in her throat. "We fought our way through a Dwemer ruin. Made it to Mercer, the traitor. Karliah was too impulsive, to eager to avenge the death of her lover. Mercer… he's great with a sword. Good enough to somehow deflect an arrow. Don't ask. Anyway, he blocked her attack, but she couldn't defend herself against his."

'And the other one, this 'Bryn' fellow? It sounds like you were… quite fond of him."

Azalea smiled, a bittersweet expression of longing and sorrow. "I was. He saw the light in me that even I didn't know existed. He brought out the best in me, and I was willing to follow him to the ends of Nirn. I guess he was willing to do the same. You see… Mercer had broken my blade, my wound had reopened during the battle, and I was helpless. I didn't stand much chance. The Blade of Woe had been thrown from my hand, and I was getting dizzy from blood loss. I was an easy target."

"And yet you stand before me."

"Brynjolf… he… used himself as a shield. Stopped the blade from reaching me. My only asset was the Mehrunes Razor. In desperation, I threw it. I don't know if it was skill, or luck, or if Dagon was feeling merciful that day. It hit its mark, and I was alone.

"Bryn was still breathing a little when the battle was over. He told me he was proud and that… that he loved me. And then, he was gone. Just like that. The only man who I ever loved. Along with my friends… my family… everyone was taken from me."

"And so… you came here. Why not run to Paarthurnax, or the Blades?"

"The Blades are insufferable, using me as a tool for their own destruction. And Paarthurnax wouldn't allow me to take my revenge on this world. Alduin was the most powerful force out there. His power intrigued me. Mind you, I didn't think of it at first. I remember remaining in a comatose state for weeks. I'd drink myself to sleep every night, wake up, drink some more. Then I realized that I'd become my father, so I moved on to… other ways of distracting myself." Azalea subconsciously rubbed her wrists, feeling the recent gashes beneath her fingertips.

"What stopped you? You would have killed yourself."

Azalea laughed coldly. "I wanted to kill myself. Believe me, I almost did. I'd relapsed, started drinking again. Filling my body with the same poison. But I realized, that if I died, the people of the world would continue to lie, cheat, and betray each other. I can't change the nature of mortals. But-" she slammed her blade into the snow next to her- "I can end it.

"I know that it seems extreme, but I don't care anymore. The world burned me, so I'll burn it back. The world has killed Azalea Sunfire. I am now the Dovahkiin."

Odahviing looked at her with approval. "You may not have the body of a Dovah, but you have the mind of one. We do not stand for betrayal. Now, you must follow me. Alduin wishes to welcome you, formally."

"Very well. Take me to Alduin."

-]I[-

The ride was a short one, merely from one peak to the next. Odahviing deposited Azalea onto the ground, in front of Alduin and the rest of his legion.

"Dovahkiin, you wish to pledge your soul to me, in life and in death?"

Azalea nodded. "Yes, Lord Alduin. You may use my blade, my bow, my Voice however you see fit."

"You denounce the world of mortals, and pledge yourself as one of us, as one of the Dovah?"

"I cast away the realm of elves and men. Let them burn with the rest of the world."

"And you swear to follow my command, no matter the situation?"

"I would walk into the gates to Oblivion if Your Lordship commanded it."

Alduin's fangs curled into what resembled a smile. "Is there anything else you would like to say?"

Azalea stood in silence for a moment, then reached around her neck and pulled off her amulet of Talos. She hadn't ever removed it, not since she had escaped the Thalmor prison. She gazed at the small hammer one last time before allowing it to fall into the snow. "I renounce my mortal name of Azalea Sunfire. Let me be known to those who stand with me and against me that I am Dovahkiin, Dragonborn."

Alduin roared his approval, his Thu'um shaking the very skies. The rest of the dragons, from the common grey ones, to the bronze Ancient dragons, to Odahviing himself, all joined in the chorus. Dovahkiin looked on in wonder as the dragons swirled in spirals around her, each roaring its greeting. A smile spread across her face. She was right where she belonged.

-]I[-

Back on High Hrothgar, the Greybeards heard the greeting of the dragons. A new member had been accepted into Alduin's ranks, and with the energy given off by the Dragonborn that day, Arngeir and the others feared for the worst.

If Azalea really had found Alduin, if she had really taken the Scroll to him, there was no doubt about it. Everything in the realm, from the smallest insect to the largest dragon, everything was doomed.

-=]I[=-

This one is going to be fun to write! I was having a case of writer's block on Paths, so I decided to do a quick little short story about what would happen if Mercer Frey had ended up killing everyone in the Guild, similar to what had happened with the Brotherhood. I ended up with the idea of her joining Alduin, because that would be a pretty cool game dynamic to have.

Next chapter for a story will be the Zelda one, When Our Paths Collide. Check it out if you don't have anything better to do!

That's all for now!

~Silver